Replacing a bad sound card

[phantom]

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 running Windows XP. The sound card was fried during a power surge. I've tried downloading the driver but I keep getting "this device cannot start (Code 10)" on the Control Panel under Soundmax Integrated Digital Audio. I'm looking to add a new sound card but all the cards I've seen have multiple outputs whereas my current speakers only connect to one output. Will I be able to connect to only one output on the new sound card and still hear all the sounds or are the sounds separated and fed to different channels?

[HayZee518]

have you tried connecting your speakers to the front output jack? I got a dimension 4600 with onboard integral sound off the motherboard.

[phantom]

Yes, I tried the front jack - still no sound. It's the integral sound card off the motherboard that was fried.

[HayZee518]

ok, well if its the thing on the motherboard, I'd say the sound channel on the MB is gone. adding a pci slot sound card won't fix the problem. knowing this I'd be looking for a new MB.

[Psycho0124]

The mainboard works by routing data between devices. As far as I know, there is no specific "channel" on the board dedicated to sound (other than those in a sound card or integrated sound circuit). If the computer still starts up correctly and is simply not outputting sound, adding in a separate sound-card will probably fix your problem. A board incapable of routing data correctly would not POST.

A standard PCI sound card is cheap, usually provides better sound quality (isolation from the mainboard reduces cross-talk), higher volume, and even adds a tiny amount of performance by isolating sound processing from the CPU. Don't worry about the extra ports on a card. They are all configurable to use a single line-out and will work fine without one of those fancy expensive speaker systems.

This one has great ratings and is under $10!

1. You are only allowed to post URLs to other sites after you have made 5 posts or more.

Whoops.. just search Newegg. cheapest sound card listed and it looks like a winner for you.